Misfit Boys Behind Misfit Toys
by NoaShado
Summary: Wee!Leandros! Damn clown. May all your balloons burst... ONESHOT


_AN: I was reading Moonshine again, and something Cal said just struck me with an idea. Then the muses woke up and wouldn't let me sleep anymore. So suddenly we have this. I hope it's enjoyable. And sorry if anyone's done this plot line before. I haven't seen one, but I'm not sure. Anyways, enjoy!_

_WARNING: I wrote this on a different computer that has a different program then the one I have to upload things on. I tried to convert the file but it didn't work completely. I'm telling you this because I've been trying to find all the mistakes the converting made but I have three storries to go through and I just don't have the patience to sift through each one with a fine toothed comb. I did what I could, but if must anything, I warned you ahead of time, kay?_

_Disclaimer: I am not Rob Thurman, therefore, DO NOT OWN._

**Misfit Boys Behind Misfit Toys**

**BY**

**NOASHADO**

Niko had lost Cal. That was a fact as gray and bleak as he was sure his eyes were at that very moment. He felt his chest tighten at the realization, saw the colors and sounds drain from his once vibrant world. Replacing it all was a simple sketch drawing of black and white. There were hundreds of faces in his dull sketch world, but since none of them were the one he wanted so desperately to see, he could not register the detail in them. They remained simple outlines, with tufts of hair to frame their non-faces, and shades of black to differentiate from the others. No eyes. No noses. No color. Nothing

Nothing at all.

Except for the smiles. Hundreds of elated smiles plastered on hundreds of blank faces. Niko hated every single one of them. How dare they smile when Cal was gone? How dare they stay frozen in bliss when he can still recall the terror in gray eyes so like his? He wanted the smiles to go away. Wanted them all to disappear like the colors and sounds had. He wanted Cal back. Lifelessly, Niko turned to observed his surroundings. The outlines of meaningless buildings. The crowd of stupidly happy faces. The smiles. All of them multiplying now. More and more smiles filled his sketch world, crushing him. Pressuring him until he spun a full circle in hopes to find a respite. Hopefully a familiar scowl, perhaps.

Instead he found yet another smile. Only this one was different. It had escaped the void of his colorless sketch world.

It was a maniacal grin awash in lucid scarlet. Scarlet like blood. The lips parted to release a lunatic giggle, piercing the quiet of Niko's world, shattering the frozen sketch. The sound was just insane enough to cause a gleam in the tiny eyes buried in pits of ebony coloring, which contrasted harshly against its unnatural white face. Stringy orange hair fell stiffly into the eyes and stuck out oddly in every other direction. Niko's eyes narrowed imperceptibly into a look of hate and his jaw tightened against the anger he felt at the creature before him. It was _his_ fault Cal was gone, and here _he_ was handing out colorful balloons to unsuspecting children.

Damn clown. May all your balloons burst.

With that dark curse in place, seven year old Niko Leandros turned his back to the unholy creature, determined to search for his wayward little brother. He fought against a sigh as he pushed his way through the carnival crowd. There were many places Cal could be. Most of them Niko had found within the first week of the three the Leandros family had taken residence at this particular carnival. But there were still some hiding places the toddler had yet to show him. And it was this fact that planted a sliver of dread in the oldest brother's stomach. He had seen the terror on his little brother's chubby face. Heard the strangled scream as Cal had spotted the colorfully dressed clown many safe yards away. And then he had been forced to watch as the three year old promptly turned and ran into the crowd with a speed rather unnatural for a child his age. Niko had been so stunned, he had stood motionless for a few seconds before he too pushed through the crowd to fallow. But by then it had been too late. Cal had wasted no time in hiding from the evil creature, but he had also hidden himself from his brother.

This time Niko couldn't stop the depressed sigh.

Several minutes later and Niko was starting to feel the first seeds of fear take root. He had left the crowd behind some time ago and was now walking through the closed down part of the carnival. The rides here were old, in need of repairs. The entrance had been boarded up with thick planks of wood, but Niko and Cal had found a loose plank that, if shifted just right, a small body could easily squeeze through. That was how Niko had found it and was why he waked quietly through the deserted walkways.

He passed an old game stand, barely glancing at the ragged stuffed prizes still on the shelves and he almost turned the corner before a sound broke the muffled silence. Niko froze, waiting for the sound again, but nothing came. He had half a mind to disregard the sound as nothing more then wind. That was, of course, the logical thought for normal human children. But then, it was those human children that got themselves kidnapped or eaten. And Niko was anything but normal. He turned back to the game stand and stood in front of it. The stuffed animals stared back at him with sad, beady eyes. If there ever was a land of misfit toys, Niko would suspect this to be it. Each animal looked beaten and filthy, with wisps of white fluff oozing from gaping tears. They had been long forgotten, left to rot here in this abandoned game post. The fur on the animals were stained by mildew, clotted by dust. Some had missing eyes, and one bear in particular was missing both an ear and its button nose. It was this renegade toy that muffled the next sniffle.

The blond boy hefted himself onto the counter of the stand and he slid behind it to land in front of the shelf of animals. At the sound of his feet, the misshapen bear gave a small gasp and wobbled precariously before being pulled back into place. It was scooted backwards a little, just enough for Niko to catch sight of tiny fingers clutching the mangled purple arm of the bear. He smiled a little and reached out to lay a hand over the smaller one, only to retract it quickly when the bear barked out a brief scream. Two pudgy arms wound around the belly of the animal to squeeze it tightly to the toddler behind it. So tightly, in fact, that it's remaining eye looked ready to pop off.

Niko moved closer to the animal. "Cal." he called softly, reaching out again. But he needn't have tried, for as soon as his voice broke the silence the bear was nearly thrown to the floor, and out came Cal. Niko got a glimpse of his teary gray eyes and reddened cheeks before it was buried into his shoulder. He placed a warm hand on to the back of his little brother's neck and squeezed gently. Relief flooded him as he felt tiny fingers clutch at his shirt and little legs wrap around his waist. He held the toddler close to him, giving him a tight hug to reassure himself that his brother was really there. And he smiled as Cal gave him a look that spoke of all his childish adoration, loud and clear even as it was ringed in puffy redness and snot. Cal was in his arms, safe. The world was right again.

Well almost.

**FIN**

_AN: I felt the end was kinda rushed, but I hadn't really planned that far ahead and I couldn't find anything that I was happy with. So it doesn't really have a conclusion...Anyway I got the idea from something Cal says on page 2 of Moonshine. Some of the clown's description is in there too. Just couldn't help myself. *grins evilly* So let me know what you think. _


End file.
